Urban Meyer to Ohio State: How Tim Tebow Made Meyer Everything He Is

Urban Meyer is going to become the 24th head football coach in Ohio State history, based on a report from ESPN.

While Meyer has earned the reputation as one of the nation's elite college football coaches, would he have reached that plateau without Tim Tebow?

It's a question worth exploring, as the former Florida Gators head man delves into a reclamation project with the Buckeyes. It's a program that's gone through a lot over the past year, including the resignation of former coach Jim Tressel.

Meyer won two BCS National Championships with Florida before stepping aside due to health and family concerns. But there was some sentiment that it was actually because of Tebow's graduation.

Tebow was the perfect fit for Meyer's spread offense, helping lead the Gators to a 48-7 record during his four seasons. Florida won three BCS games during that span, mostly because defenses had no answer for the jump-throwing, God-fearing quarterback.

He's continued to make headlines in the NFL after most analysts wrote him off as nothing more than a gimmick quarterback. As a second-year pro, he's led the Denver Broncos to five wins in six starts and has set off Tebow Mania, which includes the craze known as “Tebowing.”

Meyer will need to prove to Buckeye Nation that he can still build a winner without Tebow.

Ohio State endured a 6-6 season with Braxton Miller and Joe Bauserman serving as the quarterbacks. Bauserman is a senior that wouldn't have fit into Meyer's plan anyway, but Miller showed promise throughout his freshman campaign.

The Ohio native passed for close to 1,000 yards and ran for nearly 700 more. He totaled 17 touchdowns and will likely be Meyer's first choice when his coaching staff begins to implement new schemes.

Even though Miller doesn't share Tebow's size (6'3'', 210 as opposed to 6'3'', 236), they have plenty of similarities.

Both are dual-threat QBs who had ample success at the high school level. Neither one is known for their accuracy, with Miller completing just 50 percent of his passes this season, but both are able to make up for that in other areas.

If Meyer is going to match his Florida success at Ohio State, he'll need to mold another signal-caller into a dynamic playmaker like Tebow was during the Gators' dynasty.

Contract numbers haven't been leaked yet, but it's fair to guess Meyer will be compensated handsomely for his time with the Buckeyes. That financial commitment will only be considered a success if he brings at least one national title to Columbus.

To make that happen, he'll need Tebow 2.0 to emerge. If Miller doesn't turn out to be that guy, Meyer's highly-regarded recruiting skills will be put to the test.

All told, Meyer is a smart signing by Ohio State, but quick success is far from guaranteed.